Project description
Revolutionising point-of-care diagnostics
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for point-of-care (POC) testing for disease prevention and management. However, most in vitro diagnostic technologies are confined to centralised laboratories. To address this limitation, the EU-funded FORTIFIEDx project aims to develop a self-powered microfluidic patch capable of sample collection and analysis in one device. The goal is to assist the diagnosis of two pressing clinical needs: simultaneous detection of HIV and syphilis in underserved populations and viral haemorrhagic fevers like Ebola and Lassa. The team will follow an interdisciplinary approach to generate a biocompatible polymer-based patch that enables rapid, cost-effective and portable diagnostics.
Objective
In vitro diagnostic (IVD) technologies have revolutionized healthcare, yet remain confined to the laboratories. As witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, this traditional centralized approach was not sufficient to prevent and manage viral outbreak because it massively failed to deliver quick and cost-effective diagnosis. The ongoing pandemic further emphasizes the growing need to urgently bring lab-quality diagnosis to the hands of end users (i.e. point-of-care, POC). Despite high expectations from Lab-on-Chip technologies, they failed so far to disrupt the IVD market due to their complexity of integration/operation, high cost, off-chip sample preparation, poor scalability, to mention only a few. The FORTIFIEDx consortium aims to revolutionize the POC IVD field by making use of novel multifunctional biocompatible polymers and their (micro)structuring with mass fabrication technology to develop for the first time a true sample-to-result POC test. We will develop a FORTIFIEDx microfluidic-based patch capable of both biofluids (self-)sampling via hollow microneedles and immediate analysis of this sample on the very same patch in a completely self-powered manner. Two unmet clinical needs, posing epidemic/pandemic treats to both the developed and developing world, are selected: (1) sexually transmitted diseases, in particular simultaneous diagnosis of HIV and Syphilis, to enable timely diagnosis of patients not always able to reach centralized settings due to stigma or financial difficulties and (2) viral haemorrhagic fever, in particular Ebola and Lassa viruses, to battle their highly contagious and deadly outbreaks. To tackle this challenging aim, the interdisciplinary and experienced FORTIFIEDx consortium (2 universities, 5 research institutes and 2 SMEs from 6 countries) will combine insights from material science, engineering and microfabrication, microfluidic technology development, bioassay development, clinical validation and life cycle assessment.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies microtechnology lab on a chip
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases RNA viruses ebola
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health epidemiology pandemics
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases RNA viruses HIV
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.4 - Digital, Industry and Space
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.4.9 - Low-Carbon and Clean Industries
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HORIZON.2.4.4 - Advanced Materials
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL4-2022-RESILIENCE-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.